In May, Fete
by Kaeru Shisho
Summary: It is the first of May and the Slayers are together at a springinspired party. Another of the In... stories, but may be read standalone.


**In May, Fete**

If you are reading these 'In--' stories in chronological order,

this story follows 'In a Clearing' (February), 'In March, Clover', and 'In Jest April',

but may be read as a standalone short story.

* * *

"I am not dressing up in that rabbit outfit!" Zelgadiss maintained. He was indignant and ready to start chanting an offensive spell, targeting the astral plane.

"Bunny suit," Xelloss corrected him. "It says so on the label. See? Here on the box." He wasn't at all concerned for his safety, since they had become very good friends, and he was far more powerful than Zel and able to evade harm.

The icy stare dared Xelloss to continue in that vein and cause a scene. Sylphiel hated scenes, and it was her house and her tea party that they were preparing for. A real spring fete.

"Okay, but both Amelia and Lina wanted an egg hunt and according to the rules, a giant bunny hides the eggs." Xelloss was close to tossing in the towel and walking away. He had so much to do and nobody was helping!

"Rules? Whose rules?"

Xelloss smiled and withdrew a book from beneath his pastel lilac cloak, flashing a shimmer of apricot satin lining and matching tunic. His slacks were a sedate mauve-gray. "I came prepared. 'Guide to Garden Parties,' by Martina Stewart."

"Martina? Dear gods... You're using something written by that _screwball_ woman as your guide for this party? I can't believe you'd be that stupid!"

"Are you done ranting?" Xelloss asked calmly. His friend was so emotional and easily upset. He checked his giant pocket watch with an exaggerated display of impatience.

"Yes! I mean, no... I-I..." Zelgadiss caught his breath as his anger dissipated, and then sighed. "I just wanted to wear my new clothes," he admitted with a sad air. He was dressed in a pale blue tunic and matching pants with an ivory-colored cloak trimmed in butter-yellow raw silk. They were refined, soft, well-tailored clothes which gave the man a princely look.

"And they look so nice, too. Listen, you can do both. The hunt comes first and then the tea party. Just change clothes. And the book was a gift. It's actually quite good and full of fun ideas."

"Fun, right. Like having a rabbit hide eggs? Rabbits don't eat them or lay them. Chickens do!" Zelgadiss was satisfied, pleased by Xelloss' suggestion, but needed to expel the last of his anger.

"You'd rather wear a chicken suit?" Xelloss thought that costume would be even better, better for HIS entertainment, that is.

"NO! No way, but someone else can. Gourry would make a great one and he wouldn't mind." Zelgadiss was quick to dash out that little spark of an idea before Xelloss fanned it into a raging fire of misconstrued intentions.

"I wouldn't mind what, Zel?"

"Dressing up in a giant chicken suit and hiding eggs in the garden for the rest of us to find," Xelloss said with relish, just as quick to stir up a few sparks.

Zel groaned. "That wasn't exactly the best way to put it..."

"That would be pretty funny, Xelloss, but I gotta say no. I gotta another job assignment setting up for the games."

"Games?" Zelgadiss cringed. Fun and games with demons, dragons, and human sorcerers and sorceresses. "Sounds dangerous and ill-advised. I thought this was going to be a tea party?"

"Yeah, it's gonna be great," Gourry grinned. "Though I gotta say I don't get the pole with all the ribbons tied at the top. Not much of a game you can play with a thing like that."

"Oh, well, it's not so much a game as a dance."

"A dance? What kinda dance, Xelloss?"

"And what happened to _just an egg hunt and tea party?_" Zelgadiss' voice raised a notch with concern, which Xelloss ignored in favor of answering Gourry's question.

"A May Pole dance. It takes practice because it's quite complicated and it has to be perfect to weave the ribbons into the right pattern. See?" Xelloss turned a page in his how-to book and showed both Zelgadiss and Gourry the May Pole dance illustrations and choreography.

"Um, I don't think I can follow anything like that," Gourry admitted. He scratched his head, checked the impossibly complicated instructions again, and then shook his head with a perplexed expression.

It set Zelgadiss off on another nervous rant. "There's no way you are going to get me to dance like a fool around some damned pole with a bunch of strings criss-crossing..."

"And I am sure no one expects you to," Xelloss said smoothly, nearly reaching out and patting his friend's wiry head. "It's for the girls only, I think. They've been practicing all week." Xelloss gave Zel a wink and a smile and then said, "But they do expect a man in a bunny suit."

Xelloss' words sent Zelgadiss back to his first tizzy. "You'd better get a chicken!" Zel said, then turned on a heel and stomped off.

"Oh, we gotta chicken, we needs us a jackrabbit," Gourry called after him, chuckling softly. "He'll do it, give him time to think it over."

"Better yet, I'll send Amelia over to lend her magic touch." Xelloss hefted the costume box beneath his arm and sauntered off in the direction he'd last seen the dancing ladies. "I wonder where I can find that demon in the chicken suit, Tiiba?"

"Not just yet. I've got dozens more to paint." Filia picked up her brush and returned to the egg in her hand.

"But Filia, we have to get the dance just right or the weaving looks bad. It's our last practice, I promise. Help me, Lina!" Amelia tugged on Lina's arm to get her moving.

"Okay. Filia, listen up. I've painted fifty of the damned things _and _I gotta dance too, so don't give me that 'I'm too busy to practice' crap!" Lina folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot.

"But mine are masterpieces. Each egg a perfect little work of art," Filia said as she held up one of her darling little treasures.

"We're not decorating eggs to sell here. Just dunk'em in the colored water and move on to the next. We have hundreds to go, and then they have to get hidden." Lina looked up and spied the object of her affection walking her way. "Xelloss!"

"And Mr. Zelgadiss!" Amelia cried out. "I'll bet that's his costume. It's the cutest white bunny with the prettiest blue bow tie."

Xelloss stepped-up his pace and cantered over to the table midst the array of chairs and young women coloring chicken eggs. "Yes, my dear? You beckon me to your side, and for what? Why don't you just...?" He swept his hands over the table and the eggs became darkened, pock-marked, and cratered grotesqueries.

"No magic." Lina waggled her finger at him.

"Turn them back!" Amelia cried out.

Filia hauled out her mace from beneath her skirt. "I've been dying for an excuse to bash you over the head."

"Not _today!_" Xelloss chortled from atop the nearest tree. "You guys are just no fun."

"And you're just a big...chicken. Too scared to meet me face to face!" Filia yelled up at him. "All right girls, I'm definitely ready for a break _now_. Where'd you say Sylphiel wants us to practice?"

"Gourry should have the real pole in place over by croquet lawn."

"Chicken? Oh!" Xelloss floated down from his roost with the plan to go in search of some poultry of his own. He was brought down to earth by the familiar screechy voice of Martina. "Xelloss! There you are! Have you located the stand of flamingos and hedgehogs I asked for?"

"In triplicate. However, I can't seem to get a demon hoard to go along with the idea of costuming as playing cards and pretending they're wickets. They say it's demeaning."

"How can they think that? They're demons, the lowest low-lifes there are. Nothing's too demeaning for...What's all that racket about?"

"Squawking," Xelloss held a hand to his ear. "Flamingos. Excuse me a moment. I'd better go."

Martina raced after him. "Are those my croquet mallets screaming for their dear lives?"

"Oh, my..."

"Jil-laaaas! I told ya these weren't fer play!" A lanky teenage boy with an unruly shock of mint green hair cried out.

"You left a dragon-boy and a fox-man to guard a flock of birds!" Martina hollered, red-faced. "Where do you get ideas like that? No, don't tell me. Now go and get that demon deck of cards!" The corners of her mouth curled up into a sly smile. "Or would you like to baby-sit all the children for the rest of the afternoon?"

A shiver ran through the demon's entire frame. "I shall get the horde straight away," he said, and then he disappeared.

Zelgadiss stared at the box on the table while his wife scolded him. "Really, dear! I have to get the last run-through over with and then finish the eggs and then check on the caterer and then...and then...something, and all that's expected of you is to hide the eggs? And it's for the children especially! Is that really too much to ask?"

Well, put that way... "The children are expecting...this? No, it's all right then. I'll go change." He took the box and drug his feet all the way back to the house.

"Men," Amelia sighed and hurried off to the cluster of friends gathered around the pole Gourry had just fixed in place. "Thank you Mr. Gourry, but would you go see that Mr. Xelloss has the croquet game in order? Oh, wait, Mr. Gourry! Do you hear it? Listen to that terrible noise coming from behind the hedges! Are those birds getting attacked?"

"Now, don't you worry, Amelia, I'll go take care of everything." Gourry smiled her way, hefted his shovel over his shoulder, and loped off in the direction of the terrified flamingos.

"Thank you!" she called after him. "He's such a kind soul, Sylphiel, what a wonderful husband he's turned out to be. And, grab your ribbon and skip to the right...two, three, four..."

"Yes," Sylphiel sighed dreamily. "But he's terrible at disciplining the children. I have to be the mean old mom all the time."

"And under, over, under, over, then skip...two, three, four... Tell me about it! Mr. Zelgadiss is so afraid he'll hurt our little boy, he hardly scolds him! And change directions..."

"Hold your arm up higher, Amelia, you're too short for me to slip under," Filia asked. "Well, Milgasia tries, he really does, but Valiant is a handful and a half. I swear he's still part demon, but don't tell him I said so. And now he's noticing girls..."

"Who, Milgasia?"

"Sylphiel! No! Val, for gods-sakes..."

"And weave again to the right! Lina, you're being very quiet. Is Mr. Xelloss still having ...problems with the children?"

But Lina looked so forlorn that Amelia just apologized and tried to change the subject as she called out instructions.

Lina drew a deep breath and explained. "That's okay, really. Nothing's changed. He's not cruel in any way. He takes an interest in them, sometimes, but he doesn't share any part of himself. He doesn't tell them stories or play with them."

"Well, he's a demon, and he's only bonded to you because you are special and the children aren't...well...special, or something…" Filia couldn't put her thoughts to words without sounding mean-spirited, so she stopped.

"Filia! Okay, that's enough. Time to do it all in reverse and untwist it."

They all agreed, and reversed directions to 'untie' the pole again. A few minutes of skipping around passed, and then Amelia announced, "We're ready enough to stop practicing, I think."

Meanwhile, Xelloss went to check on his demon hoard. What he found was a squirming mass of squabbling lizards.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat and the mass jerked to action.

"Maaaaster..." They hissed, scattering to snatch up their card costumes. With more hisses and jostling, the two-foot-tall demons slinked beneath the elastic straps, snapping them purposefully over thin arms and legs. The little creatures shrieked and pushed one another haphazardly into a line, the one in front jumping back to the end of the line, causing the mixing to begin over again. Xelloss smiled, musing that they did resemble a chaotic shuffling of a deck of cards, only alive.

Xelloss put an end to the shuffling when he poked the current front-runner in its card-covered belly with the end of his staff. "What's the problem?" he asked, becoming serious.

"Eh!" it squeaked in terror.

"Tell me why this is such an ordeal."

With a little more urging, the creature told him, "Maaaster, we was told that we's to bend and bow over, like this..." It bent to form a 'U' shape.

"That's right. It's called a wicket, for our game. And the problem is...?"

"W-we's don't want to do bows to dragonses and humanses; disgraceful. That's what naasty little dragon-boy told usss. 'Bow to me!' he said to us, he did."

"I did not! I was showing you stupid little heathens what to do, but you didn't understand even simple instructions until I found a way to make it clear to your itty-bitty brains!" young Val spoke up. He'd been standing in the shadows, listening.

Xelloss rolled his eyes and covered his face with a hand.

"Need some help?" Gourry asked. True to his promise, he'd followed the sounds of trouble to their source. He dropped the shovel he'd been carrying since he dug the hole for the May pole, and the little lizard demons jumped and hissed all over the ground.

"He cuts usss in half. Chopses uss ups!"

"See, Uncle Xelloss? They lie about everything! Where did you find these little idiots, anyway?"

"I...created them," Xelloss sighed. "Okay, here are your new orders, so pay close attention."

The creatures froze a second, and then flung themselves flat on their faces. Val chuckled. They looked ridiculous in their card costumes.

Xelloss cleared his throat and shook his head, silencing Val, too. "You will all be wickets. Perfectly shaped, still, and obedient...TO ME. Just remind yourselves that you are bowing TO ME."

There was a hissing of "Yes, Maaaaaster" from the demon hoard.

"Now, my minions, fail and I shall destroy you. Perform well, and I'll let you live, and I'll even let Zelgadiss teach you some tricks."

"Yeah, card tricks, like poker!" Val shouted at them.

"No pokeses! No pokeses!" the creatures wailed.

"Come on Val, I got some work you can help me with," Gourry said with his sunny smile. Val looked up to both these men, but Gourry gave him sword fighting lessons, which made him 'way cool' in the teen's eyes. "Xelloss has his hands full with other stuff."

Xelloss smiled gratefully, "Good idea. Now, time to check in on my dear Lina, and there's the matter of the chicken..."

Gourry led young Valiant away, swinging his shovel like a sword at the hedge.

As Gourry and young Val headed back to the house, the women were finishing their egg-coloring, while quietly discussing the serious and covert purpose of the party.

Lina dunked her last egg into the once-red, turning-brown water. "I wanted children and the only way I could think we could have any was to adopt, but Xelloss got to choose them. I thought that way he would feel that they were his too, but I guess not."

"That's why this was planned," Sylphiel said. She set her last egg to dry alongside Lina's haphazard clutch. "I was so excited when you asked for my help. When I found the spells in that old book in the ruins of Sairaag, I wasn't sure if they'd be any use, ever! Who was to think at the time that one of us would marry a demon and want to bear children! Anyway, all the food is prepared just right, and I think Martina has kept Xelloss so busy that he hasn't had a moment to get suspicious. All he had to do is taste a little bit of the food."

Lina met Sylphiel's eyes and smiled. "There," she removed her brownish pink egg, let it roll into the rest of her batch, and set her spoon aside with a flourish. "That's the last egg, right? Ugh...I never wanna color another egg again!" She studied Filia's perfect eggs as she thought over what Sylphiel had told her. "Is that all there is to making the spell work? Strong magical stuff, huh? I just hope it works and that he doesn't get mad that I didn't tell him what I was going to do. But I didn't want to argue over it. I want his child. I think if he knows that he'd created something of his own, that he will feel that special something and then feel it for all our kids. I hope so, anyway; otherwise, I'm in trouble."

"You'll be in trouble either way!" Filia said, trying to make it a joke.

"Well, we'll all be in trouble with the kids if we don't finish coloring those eggs." Amelia patted the pole one last time and led the bevy of beauties back to the table.

From his hiding place behind the shrubbery, Xelloss snickered to himself, "So, they plan to enchant me in some way by adulterating the food? Oh my, secrets and tricks; now that just won't work, ladies." But speaking of children got him to thinking about children, and that it was time he checked on the babysitting facilities, and sitters... and that giant chicken.

Xelloss had not been strolling around in the children's garden for long when he was joined by Milgasia.

"...Three four, five..."

"Is a child missing?" Milgasia asked, and started to count children himself.

"Child? No, I'm counting Vurumagens. They're always coming and going, but there ought to be one per child. Oh, I give up. I'll get Martina to check on them," Xelloss said.

"Yours are well-mannered." It never ceased to amaze the dragon man how Lina and Xelloss could raise anything but wild monsters.

"Yes," Xelloss agreed, but with little warmth.

"Val is...a handful."

"He's very smart, and in a few years he's going to be vastly stronger than he is now. He isn't malicious, just lively." Xelloss turned to look at the large egg resting in its portable incubator. "Does he know about that?"

"Yes, we told him of our upcoming child."

"How did he take it? I imagine he's jealous. He'll have to share after having both of you all to himself for so long."

Milgasia thought about what Xelloss has said. Filia had shared Lina's concern over Xelloss' lack of bonding with his own children. He thought that Xelloss might have jealously problems. He had never had to share anything he possessed. "Humans are a superior race, you know. They have no limits to their ability to love. Oh, it's true! You think at first that it is just you and your wife. That is a lot of love to experience, and sharing your life with that one person is very rewarding. Then comes that first child, and you worry that your wife is so busy with that baby, she'll never love you with all her heart again. But humans especially of all the races, I believe, are adept at this loving art; they simply grow more love. Just like that! The more they love, in fact, the more love they have. It multiplies! That's how Lina can have room in her heart to accommodate you and them, and more, and never does her supply of love diminish."

Xelloss listened carefully to the dragon man. Could that be true? Had Lina not transferred her love for him to her children, but created more? "Endless love?"

"That's correct. And what's more, once she forms those maternal bonds, they remain unbroken forever, much like those marriage bonds that shape you for eternity. So, human women can love forever and with an unlimited capacity. I think they are more flexible and adaptable than even dragon-kind. I wouldn't know how to compare them to demon women..."

"They don't. In almost no way are they the same. We have relationships but nothing like...like I have with Lina. Even so, I am bound to serve my mistress; a bond for my lifetime. I must be careful how I share myself with Lina. I don't dare," Xelloss' face darkened slightly and he looked away. "Risk the lives of her...our children."

Milgasia thought he understood. Whether or not Xelloss was capable of real love, he was afraid of letting his master know how much they all meant to him. He suddenly felt an intense sorrow for the other man. "Yes, as I said. Humans are a superior race; maybe the strongest of us all. They may not live long, but they live well and may survive both our races in the long run."

Xelloss smiled at that thought. "You might be right. They seem to embrace both chaos and order with equal intensity. Endless love..."

"There's another Vurumagen coming this way. I think that accounts for them all," Milgasia said. He sighed. "I should go look for Valiant now and see what kind of trouble he's got himself into."

"Ha! Val's been a delight! He was drawn to my little minions, and tried to teach them how to become pawns in a game we are to play, but he wasn't able to control them. Gourry has him now."

Milgasia shook his head. "Thank the gods for that human sword master! I suppose it is better that Val is chasing demons than girls. Just you wait until your boys discover girls, and worse, when your little girl wants a boyfriend." He threw up his hands and laughed, then marched off in search of Gourry and his wayward teenage son.

With the dragon-man's exit came the chimera-man's entrance, fully dressed. "All right, now what? And don't waste my time. I feel ridiculous enough as it is. Don't draw out the torture any longer than it has to be." Zelgadiss watched as Xelloss' smile widened. Demons lived for torture. "I need my head examined. Just who did I think I was talking to? Sometimes I start thinking you are just one of us."

"I don't know whether to feel that I've been insulted or complimented, so I'll choose the latter."

But it hardly mattered. Zelgadiss was surrounded by his and his friends' children all amazed that such a large animal, rabbit or any other, could walk upright. Zelgadiss was speechless.

"This is a very magical bunny that will hide all the eggs for your hunt. Say goodbye to him!" Xelloss covered his friend's exit to the egg coloring table.

1"But he walks like a person, not a rabbit!" the little boy pointed out.

"Yeah, the joints in his back legs are wrong," the little girl added astutely, "for a bunny."

"The joints do...what?" Xelloss was puzzled, never having considered the legs of any creatures in those terms.

Zelgadiss picked up an armload of woven baskets, and marched off wearing a wry smile, leaving Xelloss to explain the habits of giant rabbits to his and Amelia's son and Xelloss and Lina's daughter, both sharp as tacks. He'd have to undo all the harm in the future.

"And where's Daddy?" Zelgadiss' son demanded.

Zelgadiss was happy to be well out of hearing distance when Xelloss made up a story to answer that question. The ladies were done with coloring the eggs as he approached the table. "I brought a few of these," he explained as he dropped the baskets at their feet.

"Nice, Zel," Lina said vaguely. She could have meant the baskets or the costume.

With Amelia's help, all the eggs were packed into cartons, and spells were cast to enclose the cartons in floating bubbles. "Thank you," he said in a barely audible voice. "Xelloss should be up with the rest of the collecting baskets. I'm going."

Lina, Sylphiel, and Filia had controlled their compliments. When dressed in a snow white bunny suit, the ordinarily dour man became endearing. Sylphiel wanted more than anything to give him a warm, but unwelcome, hug.

"These are nice," Filia said. "Where did you get these?"

"The baskets were ordered from the Kingdom of Femille." He looked away as if for his path of escape, then added, "This will take some time and the children are getting anxious."

Lina agreed that it was time to get the party rolling. "Yeah, go hide them fast, then."

When he had gone Amelia explained, "Mr. Miwan still writes to us. These baskets are all handmade there, and it's just one of the products we trade for in Seyruun. Our governments have a very good relationship!"

"They're lovely and well-crafted," Sylphiel said with rising admiration. "We get to keep these?"

"Yes, it's our present," Amelia replied.

"Will you look at my hands!" Filia exclaimed. "My nails are dyed. I'll have to soak them for hours to get them clean."

"Or let Sylphiel show you her magic tricks for cleaning," Lina suggested.

"That's right," Sylphiel broke in. "I have learned some of the most useful tips from Martina's book of Good Things."

Lina did not want to hear about wonderful Martina. "Let's go get changed. Zelgadiss will be done quickly, if I know him, and I want to watch the kids go hunting."

While the ladies left to change out of their work clothes and into their party clothes, Zelgadiss was busy hiding eggs. At first he worked hard to select clever hiding places, and then he became more careless and was satisfied to simply scatter them around. By the end of half an hour's work, he started dumping eggs in piles. Finally, he sent the remainder up into trees. "That's that! Time to get out of this stifling costume."

He flew back to the house and changed. When he was comfortably back in his new clothes, he left his room just as Filia and Sylphiel were doing the same. Filia was in a flowing, multi-layered, chartreuse green silk gown, while Sylphiel wore a robin's-egg-blue fitted dress that flared at her ankles. Lina and Amelia were already out on the lawns organizing the children and passing out the baskets with Xelloss, Gourry, and Milgasia. Lina was very pretty in her soft, sage-green, above-the-knee-length chiffon dress with lacy peach-colored bloomers peeking out, and Amelia in a raspberries-in-cream colored frock with ruffled hem and neckline.

The oldest children had to help the younger, or at least not trample them. Only Val had any spells under control yet, so he was designated the tree climber.

"On your marks, get set, go!" Xelloss shouted, and then flew up and out of the way of the scampering kids.

The hunt was over in fifteen minutes. Most of the children were delighted with their painted-egg treasures, while others were less thrilled. "Eggs? So what?"

"Yeah, Uncle Xelloss, what do we do with these stupid things?" Zel's boy asked.

"Stupid! I poured my heart into those little..." Filia began to grumble.

"Good question!" Xelloss smiled, and pointed at Zelgadiss, who was casting a spell towards an egg that one of Sylphiel's little girls was holding.

It cracked. Out popped a soft gray dove, which fluttered, then flew away. The children squealed delighted and began pulling out the least attractive eggs and watching them hatch into beautiful birds.

The little boy was unimpressed; at least he tried to hide it under a scowl. "Birds, so what?"

But as his basket began to tremble, he looked down and watched a snake wriggle over the edge, then another, then a few more. "Wow, mine got snakes in them!" he shouted like crazy.

A few of the eggs, when broken, contained a candy, but not too many because Amelia insisted that they not have their appetites spoiled by too many sweets. The two men exchanged amused and knowing glances. This part had gone well. It was now the parent's turn to find all the leftovers. Filia showed amazing aptitude for discovering eggs, which she said was part of being a dragon. Milgasia, having found none himself, was quick to disagree.

Amelia settled it diplomatically. "It must be in the _female_ dragon nature, then, don't you think?"

"What do you think's gonna come out of ours?" Gourry asked his wife, looking askance at the eggs they'd collected.

"I'm afraid to find out. Zelgadiss, will you check out my eggs for...slimy things, please?"

"Slimy...?" Lina spun on her heels and faced her husband. "You wouldn't dare." She hated slugs and snails and all matter of slimy disagreeable creatures, and she knew that Xelloss knew that.

His hands flew up and he flourished them madly to ward off her anger. "No, no! Look!"

This time the eggs broke open with tiny explosions and glittering sparks to reveal an assortment of hard candies and jewels, and they disappeared into colored smoke.

While the children and adults admired their baskets and remaining eggs and began their general movement toward the May Pole, Milgasia pulled Lina to the side.

"I had a brief conversation with your husband."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"He didn't come right out and admit anything..."

"Oh, no... What did he do this time?"

"Nothing like that. What I meant to say was, well, it may be that Xelloss' coldness toward his kids may stem from jealousy, and a misunderstanding of how expansive human love can be. I do not think he really understands as much as we think. His experiences are different and very strange."

"You got that right. Well, thanks for the scoop, though it won't change what we're gonna do." She quickened her step and fell in with Amelia and Zelgadiss.

The May Pole dancers took their ribbons and waited for Zelgadiss to play the introduction. Once they had discovered his talent for playing the guitar, Lina had forced him play for his friends. Amelia was kinder and more patient, but equally insistent. Once the chamber music group had been formed, it became easier over time to convince him to play solo for everyone. The music started, the dancers began and the intricate weaving down the pole appeared. What wasn't apparent were the secret spells being cast.

The pace changed as a new tune began, and Zelgadiss sang:

The May-pole is up,

Now give me the cup,

I'll drink to the garlands around it;

But first unto those

Whose hands did compose

The glory of flowers that crown'd it.

A health to my girls,

Whose husbands may earls

Or lords be, granting my wishes,

And when that ye wed

To the bridal bed,

Then multiply all, like to fishes.

Val laughed and joined in for a repeat of the song, while his father commented as an aside to Gourry, "Why is it this all seems less innocent than it seems?"

Gourry, eyes glued to the four beautiful women undulating about the pole in what he could only consider a suggestive manner, answered, "'Cause it ain't. Pretty, though."

"Ah, yes...very," Milgasia agreed.

When it was over, Val asked Xelloss to tell them about why his mother and aunts had done that crazy dance stuff.

"Today is May Day, first day of May. Its celebration originated in the spring fertility festivals of India and Egypt. The festival of the Roman goddess of spring, Flora, was celebrated for an entire week!"

"Romans? Who are these people Xelloss tells us about?" Sylphiel asked Lina, who just shrugged.

"You'd think he came from another dimension entirely!" Amelia agreed.

"Well, he did!" Lina said.

"The Britons may have inherited this festival from the Romans, who threw some legendary spring bashes of their own. The Romans ruled the British Isles well into the fifth century A.D. They celebrated Flora, the goddess of plants and flowers. These fertility rites fitted snugly with the agricultural rituals of the pre-Christian Britons.

"Called Beltane by the Celts, Walpurgis by the Teutons, and Floralia by the Romans, May festivals were a time of 'wearing of the green.'"

"Oh gods, not with the green suit again," Filia moaned.

"Not this time; different green. Green as in 'the greens' or lawns. Are you disappointed?" Xelloss winked at her.

"Not really."

"Green...green...oh, yes... Where winters turn the landscape gray and barren, the month of May became a time to celebrate renewal of life. Now, May was named for Maia, which means grandmother, who was the Goddess of death and fertility. Maia scorned marriage, so it was a good idea to put weddings off until June."

"What about the May Pole, Uncle Xelloss?"

"Oh, MayPoles are phallic symbols. Yep, it's true!"

"Xelloss!" Filia flushed. "The children."

"What are fally cymbals?" one of the youngest asked.

"Nothing, sweetie. Xelloss, get on with the dancing part," Filia growled.

"Ancient ceremonies around the May Pole were annual festivals to celebrate the excitement of the coming of spring. Bright flowers springing from the earth would be more exciting if you lived in primitive dwellings as people did over a thousand years ago," Amelia said brightly, coming to the rescue.

She had heard all this when he explained it during planning, and she had an excellent memory for learning by rote. "The chief feature of the celebration of May Day was the May Pole; this was decorated with flowers and streamers, the loose ends of which were held by dancers, who encircled the pole, weaving intricate patterns as they passed each other in the dance."

Xelloss took over, "The origins of the May Pole may lie forever hidden in an impenetrable mist of pagan rituals and pre-Christian history. Nevertheless, a few interesting facts have emerged from the darkness. The intricate dance of weaving cords around the pole was a magical attempt to direct nature back to order, which had become topsy-turvy–or should I say chaotic?-- over the course of time. Today the dance is performed by any who wish to participate in weaving the magic."

He looked toward Lina and was surprised to see her eyes go wide in disbelief, as if he had uncovered her secret. Lina on the other hand, felt an icy cold dread expand throughout her chest. She couldn't believe that he had discovered her plan.

The tension was broken when Val elbowed Xelloss and asked him about 'the fally part.'

"You mean the phallus, the male principle of fertilization. Female principles are represented by baskets and wreaths used in the dances around the pole. I'm getting to that!" he grinned, and then continued his story-telling. Lina's attention was distracted by Amelia, but something in what he'd said had startled her. She seemed okay now. Whatever had bothered Lina had passed, he supposed. Filia was fuming and about to go on one of her rampages, which pleased him, so he continued, "So these early May Poles were used in British fertility rites to usher in spring and ensure fecundity in crops and livestock. Villagers would go out into the forest, cut down an appropriately sized tree, and decorate it in the town square with ribbons and flowers. The hand-fasting movements of the dances would give young couples license to 'go into the green' together. In some regions, a _merlin_, or renegade friar, would preside over the mock marriages. Even today, unwed couples consummate the mock marriages performed around the May Pole. Merry-begats, as they were called in England, were usually not acknowledged by their fathers. These babies were said to have been fathered by god. As with all the fun ideas, eventually, May Poles were banned as heathen totems."

"Xelloss, I don't think this is the appropriate time or audience for telling this story," Milgasia intoned.

"But there is so much more to tell!" Xelloss replied. "This spring holiday has been celebrated for thousands of years throughout diverse cultures. Take Iris, for instance. Iris was also known as the mother of Love. She was the Goddess of the rainbow, which was the bridge between heaven and earth. In Greek mythology, she lured mourning Demeter, the grain Goddess, out of her cave so that the land would become fruitful again. In Genesis, angered by Yahweh's Flood, she removed the bridge from earth to heaven so he could not receive his sacrifices. When he promised to never flood the earth again, Iris replaced the rainbow.

"In Japan, Iris's rainbow bridge has been called the road of the gods. In May, Iris' month, celebrates Boy's Doll Day. That is jolly holiday; you might be interested, Val. Young men drink Iris tea and bath in an Iris infusion to promote health and fertility. Because of the sword shaped leaf and the blossom that resembles female genitalia, the Iris is the symbol of the male and female principles united."

"Enough!" Filia roared. She dragged out her mace and took a swing at his head. "You've been warned!"

"But, but... I haven't gotten to the part about the English Queen of the May, Maid Marian, mounted on a white horse. She would pair off with Merddin as her consort. Nowadays, Merddin is the bearded old wizard, Merlin, and Marian's consort is Robin Hood!"

He ducked her attack, but was too busy evading her next to keep on talking.

As if nothing was going on, Zelgadiss pulled out a book and began to read, "According to the historian Robert Graves, it says here that he has identified Maid Marian as the sea Goddess Marian, a virgin dressed in a blue robe, wearing a string of pearls. Occasionally referred to as Merrymaid, but more commonly known as Mermaid, she was worshiped by merriners, now spelled mariners, who would sacrifice to her."

"Gods, you, too," Lina said with a wry smile. "Let's go eat. I need more in my system than chocolate."

"Either that or more chocolate," Zel muttered dryly. They exchanged crooked smiles in passing.

The feast began at long last. "You really out did yourself this time!" Lina congratulated Sylphiel on her well-planned menu. "Xel, try a taste of this."

Lina tempted him with numerous tidbits and samples of each dish, but, thinking that the food was tainted with magic, Xelloss only pretended to taste it. "Nice, did you make this?" he would ask Sylphiel, who would nod 'yes' or tell him who did.

"That was mine," Filia preempted her once. "Its title caught my eye in Martina's book, Mock Dragon Cuisine. It substitutes the meat with a textured soy product."

"Oh Filia! That means it's **real** dragon cuisine, because a real dragon cooked it!" Amelia laughed at her own joke, along with everyone else.

Xelloss received many offerings of food. He felt god-like, but refrained from saying so. Members of the priesthood might be bought off with savories, too. He also ate nothing. He knew that Lina meant well, but his self-protection mode had kicked in.

"Tea and cookies. Tea, courtesy of the Mace and Vase tea shop, and cookies from Sylphiel's Flagoon Bakery." Filia set out two pots of tea and Sylphiel lowered a three-tiered server at one end of the table and a tray closer to Lina's place. "Enjoy, everyone!"

Xelloss smiled at Lina over his tea cup. He had skipped the food skillfully; Lina had no idea that he hadn't ingested a thing.

"More tea?" Amelia asked him. She was pouring for herself, and so he nodded. "Nice blend, Filia."

"It's our most popular seller," Filia told Amelia. "I send you a tin every solstice."

"And I drink it up," Zelgadiss said. "I don't think Amelia ever gets a taste."

"Amelia! You poor thing. I'll send two then, and Zel, hands off hers."

"Promise!" he said with a chuckle.

A clamor of bird squawks and other 'unknown' noises signaled the end of their orderly luncheon and, as Filia put it, "the beginning of a new kind of bedlam."

"The word you are looking for is 'pandemonium,'" Zelgadiss told her as they all made their way across the lawn to the other side of the hedge. "Think about it, pan-demon. Pan, as in 'all encompassing' and 'demon' as in Xelloss– pandemonium."

Filia held her breath and gawked at him a moment, and then she let the air out slowly. "I never thought of that. Zelgadiss, you are so smart."

Filia's compliment pleased him as it stroked his ego, but he was stunned when Amelia flung her arms around him and kissed him, declaring, "And he's all mine!"

Not that he minded, but he hadn't been expecting it. A blush stained his cheeks and ear tips. He steadied himself, planted his feet, and returned her kiss with feeling. As Xelloss passed, he whispered in Zelgadiss' ear, "Maybe I should have eaten a little more. That food was loaded with aphrodisiacs."

He chuckled as he pulled away, listening to Zel's choked response. It was an educated guess, but if he could jar his friends' nerves, all the better.

And so the games began. It didn't take Lina long to tire of pecking, ill-humored birds and sleepy hedgehogs. "The deck of demons can stay, but I want real croquet mallets and balls."

"The hedge hogs are so cute; I wish they'd run around," Sylphiel sighed.

"The flamingos get in the way," said Gourry who had one pecking at him from behind, plucking out long, blonde hairs, just a few at a time. "Now, scoot,_ you!_"

Xelloss frowned and thumbed through his manual. "But Martina advises the use of real animals to make the game more playful!"

A growl from Lina and he looked up; that is, down to her face. "Okay," he agreed without a moment's thought. He snapped his fingers and a cart of mallets and balls in a rack appeared. "I had these ready, just in case."

The game began and played out uneventfully for the most part. The warmth of the day was lessened as a breeze picked up. Clouds passed between them and the sun, chilling the players.

"Now stop that!" Filia cried out.

Xelloss had seen the dragoness' tail emerge from beneath the edge of her skirt. She had missed a shot and was angry about it. His little card-dressed minion had remained still, watching the tail flick near its nose, until the bright green bow tickled its nose. It chomped at it, and missed, nipping at dragon instead.

"Sssssssssssss! It kicked usss, it did!" complained the tiny demon, crumpling its card costume in a tumble-and-roll fit.

Another one, hearing the uproar thought it was time to voice its opinion, too. "Nassssty dragons teasees usss."

"You were snapping at the animal's feet. That hedgehog over there, for one, I saw you move three inches to catch, so don't go blaming your bad behavior on us," Milgasia sounded off in his wife's defense.

"Not true! No, no..." the poor demon cried out in its little anguished voice.

"Card demons... behave!" Xelloss commanded them in a low, but stern voice.

At the same moment, a crack of thunder overhead made everyone jump and the demon hoard shriek and dive for the grass at their master's feet. "No death, pleeeeeease!"

"Oh!" Amelia wiped a splash of water from her nose. "It's going to rain."

And it did. They were caught in the sudden downpour of a spring thunder storm. Xelloss fed off the accumulated dismay a fraction of a second, and then to elicit a very different feeling from Lina, he made umbrellas appear over each person's head. He couldn't feed off of Lina's delight and satisfaction, but her happiness sustained him in other ways, he had come to discover.

The shower was brief. The sun reappeared and the moisture rose in an eldritch steam over the grass. Since the umbrellas were no longer needed, Zelgadiss attached a spell of his own to them, and they took off, flapping and shrinking into a flight of colorful butterflies. Lina thought that was well done and said so, while Sylphiel giggled and Amelia laughed aloud at the pretty sight.

Sadly, it was the little demons turn to moan in dismay from the outpouring of happy feelings, so Xelloss turned the fluttering insects into dark bats. It was like a reward for his obedient minions.

Why had he done that? Xelloss wondered why he had the urge to be so benevolent. He felt drawn to his tiny fellow creatures momentarily, and then pop! The bond was gone and in its place _desire _struck. The intensity was so strong his body trembled. Lina, standing near enough to feel his shaking, turned and asked, "What is it?"

He was about to answer, "I don't know," but as his eyes settled upon her face, her eyes and then her lips, he knew. "I need you. _Really_, need you."

"Oh, is that so?" She grinned and elbowed him in the side. "Well, that's nice. I think everyone else has had enough of the fun and games and is going back to the house. Come on."

"Now." He felt a void where once ... what had been there, he wondered? Uniting with his wife and lover would replace what had been, but what made him think so? Hadn't he once felt a comforting link with his master? That realization was just on the edge of his consciousness, when his impulses replaced sensible thought. "Here."

"Here? In the _grass? _It's all wet. Besides, we've got a room and privacy back at the..."

He cut her off with a burning kiss. That nagging feeling of loss was fading fast, overlaid by one of sensual arousal.

Zelgadiss turned away from the amorous pair. Time to go. "Just leave the croquet gear," he said in answer to someone's question. "It's Xelloss' problem to deal with." He smiled down at his wife, and said, "I could use some hot tea."

"Hmmm, tea sounds great," Amelia agreed, and took his hand in hers.

"Think Xelloss will remember to take care of the animals?" Sylphiel asked.

"Not likely," Gourry said. His eyes flickered over Xelloss' face, his hooded eyes in particular. "He's got that look in his eyes. He won't give them another thought. Val will, though. He was pretty proud of taking care of them all today."

"Okay, then, I won't worry about those little snaky things eating them all."

"Yes, _after_ the massacre!" Zelgadiss let out a deep sigh of resignation. "Val's not anywhere near here. It's up to me, I guess. You! Card demons! Listen up! I could vaporize you on the spot, but, instead, come with me and make yourselves useful."

A couple of demons rushed to his feet, most stood and gaped stupidly, one drew himself up to his full height and stated, "Yer not our massster."

Zelgadiss fried that one, which, ironically, was costumed as the Joker, on the spot with a quick flare arrow spell. "Anyone else want to remain behind with that one?"

No, they all were eager to follow Zelgadiss without complaint.

"Let's get out of here." Filia snuck one more look at Xelloss groping Lina like a sex maniac. "He's got no sense of decency sometimes," Filia sniffed, took Milgasia's arm, and began to leave.

Xelloss didn't notice the others depart. His entire world was currently reduced to Lina. "Who cares?" he murmured into her mouth. He broke away from the kiss, and then he unclasped his beautiful cape and spread it on the damp grass. "You can have this for your bed."

He swept her off her feet, laid her gently on her back, and then sank to his knees just above her.

"Xelloss, you are going to ruin your nice slacks." She absorbed his adoration, and smiled fetchingly.

The comment was just for show; she didn't mind his spontaneity or care a whit about the condition of his apparel. She was used to his abrupt demands; he wasn't promiscuous, just desirous for her. When they first started their relationship, his courtship was very restrained. It was after she applied a little magic and stripped away that demon distaste for extreme pleasure that his passions rose; he became amorous towards her anytime or place without a modicum of modesty.

So she made him read up on romance. There was more to winning a girl's heart and keeping it than he had ever guessed. Valentine's Day was turned into an event to showcase he newest tricks. Otherwise, he learned some boundaries of decorum and to Lina's tolerance. This sudden rise in passion made her wonder though, had it something to do with the enchanted tea he drank? Was the spell going to work?

Xelloss said with the same intensity he had everything else for the last few minutes, "Don't give it another thought." Without moving a muscle, the clothes disappeared instantly.

"Oh, I wasn't going to let it spoil my day...what? Xelloss it's cold!"

"Then I'm not doing my part."

He wrapped her in his arms and a length of the cape and returned to kissing her, pouring his considerable fervor into it. From the edges of his hearing range, he could discern the stealthy movements of a young dragon. So did Lina.

"Xelloss someone's watching," she warned him and tensed.

Back at the house, Zelgadiss was teaching the demons card tricks. "Okay, now Amelia, where's the queen of hearts?"

"That one!" She set down her tea cup and pointed to the one shivering in the middle of five fanned out flat on their faces before her.

"Okay. Stand up and show yourself to the lady." Zel poked it with the tip of his sword.

"A _two? _How can _that_ be?" Amelia was mystified. "How did you _do_ that?"

"It's a trick," Zel gave her his little half-smile. "These things are good for something."

Gourry and Milgasia joined them. "Think they can shuffle themselves?" Gourry asked.

"Possibly. What have you in mind?" Zel asked.

"Poker," Milgasia replied.

"Oh? Lucky for you I only destroyed the Joker card-demon earlier. Fine, then-- Okay, demon spawn of Xelloss, get up and run around in circles. Don't run into one another! Damn... Okay, now line up, single file, one line... I'm going to teach you about 'dealing.'"

Xelloss couldn't have cared less if everyone he knew was standing in audience. He was driven to mate, and that was that.

"Let them watch," Xelloss gasped as he felt his neediness grip him. "Let me in..."

Next, Xelloss and Lina heard a rustling of hedge and a couple of angry voices, one snarling: "Val-i-ant, you come back this second!" and the other growling: "Ah, ma! I just wanted to get the birds and one went that way... Whoa, what's that?"

A third party joined their group in the shrubbery. It was a very large man sporting a white-feathered chicken suit. "Am I too late? I came as fast as I could. Could you direct me to the egg hunt?"

Filia straightened, but didn't loose her grip on her wayward son. "My dear gods, and what _are_ you?"

"A chicken, naturally. Xelloss asked me to come help out on some egg hunt of his. I was doing a promotion outside a fried-chicken restaurant and couldn't get away until now. My name is Tiiba, by the way. And you are–?"

Val didn't like the beaky-leer this guy was giving his mother. "My mom. Now beat it, buster. Hunt's over with."

"Valiant! That's impolite of you." Filia gestured toward the house. "If you were invited, you should have some tea at least. Valiant, you, too!"

Meanwhile, Xelloss rolled off of Lina, drawing his cape up around them again. "Lina...I love you..." Xelloss basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking, the heat of the rut diminished, but not yet satisfied. There was that nagging _something_ surfacing again.

"Yeah, me, too. You feel...okay?" Lina wanted to know if the enchantments Sylphiel and she had placed on the tea had taken hold. He seemed more intense than usual, and taking her on the lawn of Sylphiel's grounds was rather _outré, _even for Xelloss.

"I feel...boundless..." He had finally put a word to a part of the odd sensation he had been feeling; of course, his intellectual capacity had just shifted up a few notches. However, something was still 'out of whack', awry, in his head, and he couldn't put a word to that.

"Oh?" Lina tried her best to maintain her innocent look.

"Why?" He had avoided the food, so he knew wasn't in a spell-induced state. Or...? "What have you done, Lina? I can taste guilt on you like gilding on your favorite picture frame."

Lying would be fruitless and unwise, considering what she had done. "Severed your bonds with your master...I think?" Lina held a tense smile.

The demon hoard shuffled and re-shuffled on command. They dashed about, ordered themselves, and then, one at a time, pealed off to lie face down in front of each of the men, Zelgadiss, Gourry, Milgasia, Tiiba, and Val– five to a person.

"I pass," Zel said, after turning up the corners of the cards to peek at his hand.

"I'll take...three," Val said, poking at three of the little demons with a stick. "Go to the discard pile, you little shits. And you next three had better be better."

"But we's cant's helpes whats we isss?" one whined as it joined Val's hand.

"One," Milgasia murmured.

"One for me, too," Gourry said.

"Can I get a whole new hand?" Tiiba asked amid the other players moans.

"Demons..." Zelgadiss shook his head. "I guess what they say is true: You can't teach old demons new tricks."

"_Severed.._.? Oh, Lina..." Xelloss dressed instantly in his traditional priest's outfit, his soiled pastels vaporizing on the spot. "This is going to be so bad." Many words were coming to mind now that he knew what the strange sensation was. Words like: horrifying, heinous, immoral, ugly, and punishment.

Lina stepped into her dress. "Oh, I don't know. Zelas doesn't get around any more. She can't do a thing without you, right? So now she's helpless and you are free. No more being called away for weeks at a time, interruptions, nagging worries. Right?"

"You think Beastmaster Zelas is helpless? Oh, my...Lina. Why does everything have to be the hard way with you? I have given myself to you, helped to raise your children, formed friendships, and now you want more? At what cost? I hope it is all worth it to you in the end, because, Lina, Zelas will not so easily let me go. Not without a fight."

"Then bring it on." Lina finished dressing and took Xelloss' hand in hers. "You served her for over a thousand years, now you are mine...er...your own man. Let the cards fall where they may."

Xelloss searched her eyes for fear and found none. Was it possible for Lina, his children, and friends to fill that space voided by Zelas' absence? He hoped so, because he felt a huge abyss widening rapidly in his mind, and if something didn't fill it then he was afraid he'd go insane. He was too stunned to be angry with her.

"How did you do this? I ate nothing after over-hearing you ladies discussing spell-laced food."

"Tea. It was in the tea. The food thing was a ruse."

"You knew I was there? You tricked me?" Xelloss was caught off-guard once again.

"No, but I suspected that you might be. And I didn't really trick you, more like I took precautionary measures."

"I see. But where were these _precautionary measures _when you... you dreamed this up? There were none, were there? That was quite a risk you were willing to take with me. It still is. Mistress Zelas may choose to simply destroy me on the spot."

Lina shrugged. "She won't. You are too valuable. And so am I. She still wants something from me, doesn't she? That's why she's allowed...us... you and me together like this for so long."

"Something, yes." But he turned away. He wasn't supposed to tell Lina. "At least she did. Maybe not any more. It is a secret, of course."

"Not from me."

Shuffle and reshuffle; the little card demons were no longer required. Their master was out of touch; he had forgotten them. The humans and dragons had retired to their private rooms, leaving Xelloss' neglected minions to fend for themselves. Reordering themselves over and over until, bored, the demons turned to one another. "What shouldst we's do? I feel no master's will– no orders?"

They looked a little lost, then one piped up, "Climb on backses, makes towers!"

And they did, until the last one balanced precariously on the top, and then it slipped and they all fell like a house of cards in the wind.

Xelloss wondered to whom he owed his allegiance. One look at his true love's face, and he knew the answer to that question. He bent closer to Lina's ear and whispered, "Okay, no secrets from you." He told her what Zelas wanted from her.

But what he told her made her laugh. "But that's what we want, too! It's just not possible! Your body doesn't make...the right stuff and I've been told by every healer and midwife in every land that I can't carry a baby. Cross between a demon and a human..._now _who's nuts, huh? Ask Zel! So, why would she want a thing like that to happen?"

"I don't know. Well, I do, but it's not very interesting."

"Of course it's interesting. Spit it out!"

"She sees the value of humans, and although she considers our race to be superior, there are some drawbacks. A merger of the two, in a single minion, could have practical use for her. I told her of the difficulties entailed and the unlikelihood of anything coming from our union."

"Yeah, and what did she say to that?"

"She said that nature would take its course."

"Well, then, don't worry. This is all nature finding its way," Lina said expansively.

"You used magic, Lina."

"For me, that's natural."

Xelloss was standing facing her, and now rested his hands on her shoulders. "That was a serious action to take against her, my dear. Mistress Zelas will not lose her only servant without making a move of her own."

"I'm not worried, less so now that I know what's up, although I'd like to know why you never mentioned this plan of hers to me before."

Xelloss shrugged. "Not every plan or wish of my mistress' is completed successfully, and this was one which wasn't going to happen at all. I didn't want it to..." He changed the course of what he was going to say mid sentence, "I didn't want her to get her hands on something of ours to use for her own purposes."

Lina wondered if that meant that he had been 'withholding' something from her that could have allowed them to produce children, but decided that it probably didn't. "The entire 'bonding' thing is archaic and restrictive. As a free man you are closer to 'humankind', and so are more likely to create a baby, possibly, and so... are nearer to granting her wish. She'll see that, and if not, you'll _make_ her see that. Everything will be fine."

Xelloss bent slightly and caught her eyes. "Tell me, Lina. Tell me why you used a spell like that on me, really."

Since Xelloss was 'telling all', Lina decided to come clean as well. "Because I want you to love our children. To share your thoughts and heart and life with them as you do with me. Without a master to obey, there's more of you to go around. I was hoping it would do the trick."

He smiled. "I see," he winked with an air of mischief. "You just hate sharing me with another woman."

"That, too."

"I hated sharing you with them, your..._our_ children."

"But that's not...!"

"Fair," Xelloss supplied. "I know. I think I understand that now. I just hope I can repair the damage."

"You don't mean to undo the spell?" Lina moved away and started drawing power into a chant.

"Calm down, dearest," he implored. "I can't undo it, whatever it was– and you will tell me what you used on me won't you? I meant to say **both** that I would try and reason with my mistress, when she comes, and that I would try to spend more time with your..._our_ children."

"That would be nice. Hey, wait! She's coming..._here?"_

"Well, I'm not going _there!_" he laughed. "Once I fail to respond to a summons, she'll wonder what's up, and then she'll come. Yes, you can be sure of it. Until then, we need to formulate a plan."

"Something clever and powerful."

"Something stronger than that."

"If this all works out, I guess I'll owe you big for helping and understanding and, well, you know...?" She was responsible for the mess, but not the least bit sorry for what she had done.

"Oh, yes... you _will_," he said with special emphasis.

Shuffle and reshuffle. Reordering themselves into another new lineup allowed the card demons to enjoy their new-found freedom of choice. "We don't need no massster to tells us hows to do this. We's can figures this outses. Climb on backses, but _two_ backses– one different one under each footes. More stable and fewer on top, lessss weight!"

And the card demons struggled and climbed and had difficulties telling one another what to do to adjust themselves, but when the last one balanced on the top of the pyramid, their structure held. It held a few minutes, until the uppermost ones jumped off. And then they got up again and built a new one. A better one. A stronger one. It seemed that they could get along just fine without a master, after all.

* * *

Note: the song THE MAY-POLE, was by Robert Herrick, 1891.

The end. In May, Fete


End file.
